Alaska Airlines leads Sea-Tac electrification project with more than 200 new electric vehicles

The port of Seattle, along with Alaska Airlines, Western Washington Clean Cities and US Representative Adam Smith unveiled a new project providing nearly 600 electric charging stations throughout Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for ground support equipment such as baggage tugs, bag ramps and pushback vehicles.

Converting the GSE from fossil fuel to electric, each year the project is projected to save USD2.8m in airline fuel costs and 10,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions the equivalent of taking 1,900 cars off the road.

The port has installed bright yellow charging corrals with smart, fast-charging plug-ins for vehicles to receive a full charge in less than four hours. The smart technology determines which vehicle needs the most charge and meters out the power. This first phase provides 296 charging locations throughout concourse D, C, and the north satellite. The second phase will cover the rest of the terminal at concourse A, B, and the south satellite for a total of 576 charging locations by September.

Alaska Airlines, a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK), together with its partner regional airlines, serves nearly 100 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. Its website is at www.alaskaair.com.